Hetalia: International Mansion
by DragonSoulH
Summary: After the death of a wealthy British Countess, her multinational staff of servants must learn how to get along with her quirky American heiress or face losing their jobs. This is especially hard for the mansion's head-butler, Arthur Kirkland, who must not only deal with the ongoing arguments between the staff members but also deal with his own dislike of Americans... (AU)
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

Chapter 1: Arrival

It all started with the will of a crazy old lady.

The Countess Goldstone, much beloved by her friends but not so much by her household staff, passed after 94 years on this earth. She left behind a substantial estate and a will on how it should be disbursed.

Of particular concern to her staff was the passage on their salaries: "Unless the servants remain in the employment of my heir for six months' time, their retirement pensions shall hereby be revoked and returned to my estate."

They all wondered if her heir would really be so bad.

(one month later)

As the limo pulled up to the front steps of Goldstone Manor, Arthur Kirkland tried his best to swallow his apprehension. He'd been dreading this day - it was the arrival of the new Countess from America. He had no idea what to expect, he only knew that nothing good could possibly come from an American Goldstone.

But there was no procrastinating now. He strode down to the shiny black door and reached for the handle. In one well-practiced move he opened it and bowed low. "Welcome, Countess Goldstone. It's a pleasure to have you here."

"Hey, thanks man."

Arthur's head snapped up. That sounded like -

"YOU GIT!" he shrieked. Instead of the young American woman he expected, it was his cousin Alfred Jones! That - muscle-bound, empty-headed, junk food-bingeing Yank!

"Dude! Keep it down or you'll wake Rosie!"

Alfred looked over his shoulder and Arthur glanced past him. Deep in the shadowy confines of the limo there was a girl in jeans and a T-shirt curled up asleep. The new Countess Goldstone.

"Dude, I know what you're thinking but don't worry. I'll carry her for you."

Alfred pushed past Arthur and walked around to the other side of the car. And before Arthur could stop him he reached in and scooped up the new Countess. She didn't wake and instead just snuggled down into his arms.

Arthur's first look at her didn't fill him with confidence. The bottoms of her jeans were tattered and her T-shirt was a wild, psychedelic swirl of colors and patterns. Her short, choppy hair was dyed violet to match her black-and-violet sneakers.

"Okay, dude, show me to the bedroom!"

"I beg your pardon!"

"What? I can't leave her on the floor, man. That's rude."


	2. Chapter 2: Darkness Before Dawn

Chapter 2: Darkness Before Dawn

Deep in the British night, Elise Vogel stifled a yawn and fidgeted in the overstuffed armchair. She'd been there for hours, keeping watch over the new Countess and her American companion under the direct orders of Mr. Kirkland. Not that they'd done anything - after putting the sleeping Countess on the bed the noisy American had collapsed onto the other half and promptly began snoring away. After that point it'd really become a boring watch.

Elise sighed despite her best attempt to hold it in.

Suddenly the Countess sat bolt upright in bed and shouted, "Hands off my muffin!"

After that yell and a squeak of surprise, silence returned. Elise watched, slightly alarmed, but the Countess said nothing more and just glanced around confused.

"Hey, this isn't the plane," she said at last. Then she spotted Elise. "Hey there, tiny maid."

"Good evening, Countess."

"Oh, you can just call me Rose," she replied with a wave of her hand. "So, how'd I get here? Did I pull like a Rip Van Winkle and sleep for twenty years?"

"Um, no. You've only been asleep for a few hours, madam."

"Okay, that makes more sense. But Van Winkle needs to tinkle. Which way to the bathroom?"

"It's - It's right over there, madam."

"Great, be right back!" With an amazing level of energy the Countess bounded out of bed and flounced to the bathroom. Her American companion, meanwhile, didn't even stir.

Elise was at a loss for words. She was certainly different from the former Countess.

After a few minutes the Countess re-emerged looking very much relieved and she fixed Elise with a renewed look of interest. "So, little maid, what's your name?"

"Elise Vogel, madam. I'm to be your personal maid."

"Personal maid? For what?"

"For whatever you like, madam. The previous Countess often had me lay out her outfits for the day. I also brought her meals when she was ill and prepared her baths."

The Countess' expression turned thoughtful. "Well, I'm not much of one for breakfast in bed and I can pick my own clothes and draw my own baths…"

"I can do other things too madam! I'm good at sewing -"

"Hey, me too!"

"Umm…"

"Listen, Elise, I don't know what the last Countess was like but I'm pretty self-sufficient. I won't be needing the same kind of hand-and-foot service. But I tell you what; what I can really use is a friend after Al leaves. Would you be my friend?"

"If that's what you would like, madam, I'd be happy to be your friend."

"Great! Step one: start calling me Rose."

"Y-Yes, mada- I mean, Ms. Rose."

"Eh, close enough."


	3. Chapter 3: Pancakes!

**[A/N: I'd like to say thank you to the guest who left a review for my story! Also, to answer your question, Rose and Alfred are not related, they are just friends. But since his cousin works for the household, Al offered to come with her and help her move in (and bug Arthur at the same time!)]**

Chapter 3: Pancakes!

"Yay, a friend!" To Elise's surprise, Countess Rose rushed over and hugged her. "And an adorable one too!"

"Um, thank you madam."

Then suddenly the Countess' stomach growled loudly. "Oh, I'm starving!" she groaned. "Where's the fridge at? I need to snack pronto."

"Actually, Miss Rose, it's nearly light out. The chef and the rest of the kitchen staff should be in the kitchen prepping the day's meals by now." Then, remembering her place, Elise curtsied. "If you want I can show you the way."

"Yes, please!" Much like before the Countess bounced energetically out the door and Elise hurried after her.

And just in time too - the Countess was skipping along the hall into the darkness, but the kitchen was down the main stairs in the opposite direction.

"Oh no, madam! It's this way!"

The Countess reacted immediately to Elise's call and came rushing back.

"Whoopsie-doodles!" she said with a laugh. "I guess I'm just a little too eager to see this place! I saw a huge-ass painting down there and I wanted to get a good look!" Then she suddenly went wide-eyed and clapped both hands over her mouth. "Oh no! I forgot, everyone must be sleeping and I'm being so loud!"

"Oh no, madam, no need to worry. The servants' quarters are in another building so there is no one to wake."

That wiped the happy grin right off her face. "So… I'm in this place… all alone? Why?"

"Because it's not proper for your servants to sleep in the same house as their mistress, madam," Elise explained. "Of course, if you require anything during the night, the phone in your room will connect you to the servants' building so you needn't worry."

The Countess looked thoughtful but she didn't say anything further and let Elise lead her down the stairs and towards the kitchen with no more fuss. Brilliant light was spilling out from beneath the closed door along with voices - the chef was at work.

Elise swung the door open and the first person she spotted was the head chef, Francis Bonnefoy. Despite his obvious personality quirks he was a master of food preparation - even on her quarrelsome days the former Countess never took issue with the meals he prepared. Surely the new Countess would be just as pleased.

"Ma petite cherie," he said happily. "It's so unusual to see you awake at zis 'our! What brings you to my kitchen?"

The kitchen door swung open wider and Francis' eyes moved upward then widened with surprise. "Ohonhon, what do we 'ave 'ere!? Who are you, ma belle femme?"

"Hi, I'm Rose!" she chirped.

"What a beautiful name! I am Francis Bonnefoy, ma belle, ze head chef for ze Goldstone family for twenty years. I shall be 'appy to prepare any of your favorite foods - you need only ask!"

"Chocolate chip pancakes!" the Countess demanded.

"Excusez-moi?" Francis was surprised to say the least, and perhaps even offended. "Ma belle, I could prepare any sort of food. I could make a breakfast zat tastes like 'eaven!"

The Countess chuckled and looked embarrassed. "Well, it's kind of a tradition of mine. Maybe it's silly. But whenever I move someplace new my first breakfast is always chocolate chip pancakes." Then she stretched out her hands, palms up. "If you want to make them fancy, you go ahead. But I'd like to keep my tradition going."

"Oh!" Francis' eyes brimmed with tears. "What a lovely speech! Of course I will make pancakes for you, to continue such a wonderful tradition!"

"He's a little emotional, isn't he?" Rose whispered to Elise as Francis hustled off.

"Ja," she whispered back. "But he is a nice man."

"I'm glad he's French. British cooking is icky."

Elise giggled. "Most of the household would agree with you, Miss Rose."


	4. Chapter 4: Not Normal

Chapter 4: Not Normal

Time for the day to begin. Arthur's jaw and stomach were both clenched as he moved through the mansion switching on lights. He could only shudder to think what would happen that day.

When at last he could no longer put it off anymore he made his way to the master bedroom. He would admit to some nervousness in leaving his cousin with the new Countess overnight, but the presence of Elise should've been a deterrent for anything. Even Al wasn't that much of a pervert.

Still, he wasn't looking forward to waking the Americans. It seemed that every single thing his cousin did or said was to aggravate him and surely the Countess would be the same. Only he would be stuck with her for months after his cousin returned home.

'Stiff upper lip,' he told himself. Then he placed his hand on the ornate knob and turned it.

His eyes took a moment to adjust and it took another moment for him to realize the room was empty.

"Bloody hell!" The day was off to a bad start.

Meanwhile in the kitchen…

"Dude! I smell PANCAKES!"

Elise yelped as Alfred burst in through the swinging door in his usual manner. Rose, however, was used to her friend's unnecessary enthusiasm and the rate of her pancake consumption didn't slow.

"Oui, but of course! I made zhe best pancakes~!"

"Well, start stacking 'em up!" Al took the seat next to Rose and threw an arm across her shoulders in a hug. "'Mornin' Rose!"

"Mmmpphhg!"

"So, what are we doing today?"

"Well, I still gotta tour this place and meet everybody, Al," Rose said after swallowing her mouthful of pancake. "That'll probably be what we do today."

"Boring!"

"Elise, will you show me around so I can meet everybody?"

"I would, Miss Rose, but that privilege belongs to -"

"Oh for God's sake!" The burst of British attitude from behind made them all turn around. Arthur, looking moderately flustered, now stood in the doorway glaring at the group. "You can't just go wandering about the place on your own!"

"Says who we can't?!" Alfred retorted.

"Yeah, some of us were hungry!" Rose added.

"Oui, Arthur! Zhe lovely Countess was led 'ere by 'er discriminating taste buds! After all, where else would she get a decent meal in Angleterre~?"

"I'll deal with you later, Bonnefoy," Arthur growled under his breath. He then straightened his suit and bow tie and assumed an air of refinement. "Countess Goldstone, I am Arthur Kirkland, the head butler of Goldstone Manor. The pleasure is mine."

"S'up Artie!" Rose leapt up and bounded over to Arthur, throwing her arms around his neck in a massive hug. "Haha, your accent is adorable bro!"

There wasn't a word strong enough to describe Arthur at that moment. Certainly he was affronted by her easygoing attitude - didn't this bloody Yankee realize the dignity and honor that a moment like this demanded?! But with all of his self control he restrained himself from shouting in outrage.

"Yes, well…" She didn't take the hint so he was forced to pry her arms loose from his neck. "If you'll wait here, Countess, I shall go and assemble the staff for introductions."

"No need, Monsieur Kirkland," Francis interjected, smoothly drawing the Countess closer to him with one hand. "Everyone shall arrive soon for zheir breakfast so I will do the introductions myself. Why don't you go polish zhe silver, hm?"

"You git!" Arthur snapped. "I'll rip that scruff right off your -!"

Before he could finish his threat, Alfred snuck up behind him and covered his mouth with one hand while holding him immobile with the other. He gave Rose a conspiratorial wink. "Hey cous'! Show me around while Rose is busy! Where's the pool at?!"

Al dragged Arthur kicking and screaming from the room while laughing at the top of his voice.


	5. Chapter 5: What's a Horse-Phobia?

Chapter 5: What's a Horse-Phobia?

By some miracle Arthur managed to shake off his obnoxious cousin. Actually it was not so much a miracle as it was the fact that Alfred's bladder was full.

"Dude! Artie, wait up a sec I gotta take a leak."

"Must you be so crude?!"

"I'm just being me!" Alfred laughed as he strolled into the commode and shut the door with a bang.

Before the sound had even died away Arthur was walking back towards the kitchen, positively fuming. No way in hell was he waiting for his idiot cousin to use the loo just to drag him around the rest of the manor while he had a job to do! He had to take the situation in hand as soon as possible and put a stop to all this nonsense.

"Ready ta give up yet, little brother?"

The smug Scottish voice brought him to an immediate halt. His eldest brother Iain was leaning in the doorway of one of the spare offices, uniform partially undone with a cigarette hanging casually from his smirking mouth. At the sight of him Arthur bristled defensively.

"This is nothing I can't handle!" he snapped. "So bugger off and get to work!"

"Aye, I'll grant ye ran a tight ship under tha last countess but surely ye dinnae count on tha new countess bein' so easy?" Those intense forest green eyes stared him down like a lion. "An' when it all becomes too much for ye, I'll be ready."

"The day I can't manage an upstart Yankee tart is the day the Thames reverses direction!" Arthur retorted. "And get rid of that. You know the house rules."

"Under tha old countess." Iain pushed off from the doorframe and headed for the rear servants' entrance. "Think I'll take meself off an' ask our new countess, aye?"

"You'll do no such thing!"

"I'd like ta see ye stop me, 'Artie'."

Suddenly there was an earsplitting scream from outside. Arthur felt his heart skip a beat.

The next thing he knew he was on the rear lawn. It was a vast expanse of green grass with the manor on the north border, the horse barns on the west side, the traditional Japanese garden to the east, and on the far south border were the evergreen hedges finely manicured into a complex maze. The solid slate-gray sky cast an eerie pall over the landscape as the glow of the rising sun was diffused through the clouds.

Arthur had only a single moment to take all this in before a streak of purple hair rushed from a nearby tack shed and barreled into him with the force of a freight train. The Countess wrapped arms as strong as iron around his torso and squeezed all the breath out of him.

"Artie, Artie!" she cried. She was trembling like a leaf and he could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

Gentleman that he was, Arthur was speechless and Iain took up the conversation. "Easy lass, yer in safe hands now. What's tha matter?"

"It's…"

"Lady Countess!" From the tack shed, hot on the heels of the Countess, came Elizabeta Hedervary. The wild Hungarian woman was the head of the horse stables and was a talented equestrienne in her own right. At the moment though she looked terribly concerned as she headed for their group. "Countess, are you all right?!"

As Elizabeta's hand touched her shoulder, the Countess jumped and looked frantically back at her. Then with a yelp she released Arthur and scurried over to hide behind Iain. "Just - Just keep it away, okay?" she whimpered.

"Keep what away?" the Scotsman asked.

"The horse?" Elizabeta asked perplexed. "She won't hurt you."

Looking back at the shed, Arthur saw a horse's head poking out the door looking at them all. He recognized the mare, a particularly friendly roan with a sweet temperament. She couldn't possibly have done anything to cause such irrational fear in the Countess.

"Maybe," the Countess mumbled from behind her tall broad protector. "But I'm just afraid of them, okay? It's not so bad at a distance but I walked into the shed and she was right there!"

Suddenly there was a deafening SLAM! and Alfred erupted out of the back door brandishing a large lamp. "HERE I COME ROSE!"

"Al, what the hell?!"

"ALFRED JONES!" Arthur bellowed. "PUT THAT LAMP BACK WHERE YOU FOUND IT THIS INSTANT!"

"But I gotta save -" Distracted by trying to form thoughts as he ran, Alfred tripped and the lamp flew from his hands.

It soared gracefully through the air as six pairs of eyes followed its path. The crash as it shattered broke the silence.

The roan mare reared with a whinny and the Countess reacted with a scream. At the same time Iain burst out laughing and Arthur erupted.

"DAMMIT ALFRED! I WARNED YOU!"

"Hey, I was just trying to rescue Rose!"

"RESCUE MY ARSE, YOU'RE JUST BEING A BLOODY FOOL!"


	6. Chapter 6: Hello and Goodbye

Chapter 6: Hello and Goodbye

And so Arthur's week continued on in that fashion. Every day he had to endure more of whatever nonsense Alfred and the Countess Goldstone could think up. One day they spent every waking minute playing Tag and Hide-and-Seek; it wouldn't have been so obnoxious if they hadn't insisted on including him in the games. On another day they barricaded themselves in the ballroom and played pop music at top volume; when the staff finally managed to get inside they found the two of them dancing elegantly for a small group of the maids and Elizabeta.

By Friday Arthur was at the end of his rope. He wasn't sure if he was going to just quit or slit his throat but he couldn't take much more of this. Feeling defeatist, he pushed open the kitchen door to find out what new torment was in store for him.

"'Mornin' Artie!" Alfred and the Countess were as energetic as ever.

"Good morning, Countess. Alfred, chew with your mouth shut!"

"What crawled up your butt?" his cousin muttered.

"Oh hey! Artie, I need your help with something!" the Countess said eagerly. She jumped up and fastened onto his arm, dragging him back out the door.

"Countess! I'm happy to help but you need to cease this now! And please stop calling me Artie." She let him go and he straightened his suit irritably.

"But Artie is a great nickname! Not that Arthur is a bad name." She said this last with a smile. "And if I can call you Artie then you can call me Rosie!"

"I would never!" Arthur gasped indignantly.

Rose sighed. This butler was one stuck up Brit. "Fine we'll finish that discussion later."

"There is no 'discussion'!"

"ANYWAY! Al is leaving tomorrow and I wanted to do something special 'cause he's my bestie! So I talked to Iain and Patrick and they suggested we go to a pub!"

Arthur suppressed a groan. Iain was Arthur's oldest, Scottish brother and Patrick was the next-oldest Irish brother. Since the Countess had arrived both of them had latched onto her like the leeches they were. The two delinquents had a distinct fondness for ale so it was little wonder that they suggested a pub.

Ignoring (or perhaps unaware of) his apprehension the Countess continued on. "Patrick suggested a pub just in town and Iain says he knows a guy to drive us there and back. So I want you to let everybody know about the party. We leave at 9 and it goes 'til sunup!"

"Countess, I really must protest this! You can't 'party' with your employees like that - tongues will wag. Do you want the entire community to think you're a trollop?!"

"Hey, you watch what you call me!" she snapped.

"It's not what I'm calling you, it's what others are going to call you!" Arthur retorted. "This isn't proper behavior for a Countess!"

"Well, I ain't no proper Countess!" Rose crossed her arms and glared at Arthur. "Nevermind, I'll invite everyone myself. You're still welcome to come but you can't say one word about me being a Countess, proper or not. This is for Al."

Later that evening…

"Okay, everybody!" Rose announced. "Get ready to head out!"

The crowd milling around stirred at her words: Iain and Patrick Kirkland were particularly eager. Nearby were Wang Yao and Kiku Honda - the Chinese man helped in the kitchen and was a martial arts expert, and the Japanese man tended the Japanese garden. Looming over them was the head of security, the Russian Ivan Braginsky. His posse of security guards were on the other side of the room - generally they stayed as far away from him as possible. Francis and his two closest friends, Antonio Carriedo and Gilbert Beilschmidt, were nearby making a ruckus - they had clearly begun their partying early. A few other people were standing alone: Elizabeta was close to Francis's group but standing apart. Next to her but not paying attention to anyone in particular was the mechanic, Ludwig Beilschmidt, Gilbert's younger brother. Not too far away was Berwald Oxenstierna, the intimidating Swede in charge of the maintenance and upkeep of the manor. His team was on another side of the room, though not due to fear like with Ivan.

And of course Alfred was hopping eagerly from foot to foot right beside Rose. "Come on, let's go! It's time to get this partay started!"

"I know, Al! I wanna get moving too!" Rose agreed. "Iain, where's this buddy of yours?"

"Easy lass, he'll be here."

There was a knock at the door and Iain gestured wordlessly at it. Rose bounced to the door with a cheerful squeal. On the other side was a tall young man who looked surprisingly like Alfred, except he was wearing a flannel shirt.

"Huh?" Rose said.

"Good evening," the man said.

"Found the place all right, Mattie?" Iain asked, striding forward.

"Yes, no problem at all." His voice was so quiet that it was difficult to hear over the background conversations. "Let's get going, eh?"

"Mattie?" At the sound of Alfred's voice Mattie's general happy expression vanished. "Hey bro! Long time no see!"

"Hello, Al. I didn't expect to see you here." Quiet as his voice was, Rose heard the distinct note of displeasure showing through.

"Dude, Rosie, this is my brother Matthew, aka Mattie! I told you about him, he grew up in Canada but he moved to England a few years ago!" Alfred slung an arm around Rose's shoulder. "Mattie, this is Rosie! She's the new head honcho around here!"

"Hi Mattie!" Rose chirped. "Thanks for driving us tonight!"

"You're welcome Rosie." He looked a little happier as he focused on her.

"Enough vith zhe not-drinking already!" Gilbert shouted directly behind Rose. "Let's go get beer! Beer!"

That was the cue for everyone and they began to stream out the front door to the waiting limousine. The ride over was short but wild - half of the group members were hanging out the windows and sunroof shouting and cheering. Matthew drove carefully, another marked difference from Alfred. He slowed for turns, stuck to the speed limit, and barely even rattled the car's frame on bumps. Gilbert, of course, complained that he drove like an old Frau.

Then the carpool arrived at O'Grady's Pub. The wildest cheer yet went up from a dozen throats.

Rose was the first one in the door and she immediately made herself popular by shouting for a round of beers for the whole pub. The bartenders and servers obliged and everyone eagerly began to imbibe.

All but two. As designated driver Matthew wasn't drinking any alcohol, though he was certainly having a good time talking with Gilbert and Francis. He'd been to the manor before and had forged strong friendships with the albino German and the Frenchman.

The only other sober person wasn't having nearly as enjoyable a time as Mattie. Against what he knew was his better judgement Arthur had come along. Someone had to keep the Countess under control and it seemed that he was the only one who gave a damn.

But he had underestimated just how rowdy the Countess could be. She downed an entire beer in the first five minutes and proceeded to lead Patrick, Iain, and Alfred in a chorus of bawdy drinking songs. Arthur was mortified - this had to stop now!

He charged at her, determined to drag her out of the pub before the Goldstone name was reduced completely to rubble. However he'd only gone two steps when Francis suddenly seized him.

"Arthur, mon amie! Why zhe gloomy look? Come, come, 'ave a beer and relax."

"Get the hell off me, you filthy frog!" Arthur shouted and tried to shrug him off.

"Don't be like zhat, Arthur!" Francis drew him into an unwilling hug - clearly he was feeling the effects of the alcohol already. "Zhe beer is nice but a glass of wine would be better. Especially if it's just moi and toi~."

Then Arthur felt one of the chef's hands drifting into dangerous territory. "SOD OFF, YOU DAMN WANKER!"

"Ohonhonhon~!"

After trouncing the frog, Arthur was going to chase the Countess again but she had moved. She'd gone to the bar to chat with Gilbert and Matthew; he was further exasperated to see a fresh pint in her hand.

Then she whirled around and raised the pint up, not seeming to notice as some sloshed down her forearm. "How 'bout another round for everybody?!"

"Countess!" Arthur shouted indignantly but the general cheer of approval drowned him out.

He spent the whole rest of the evening pursuing her but she always stayed a step ahead of him. When he chased she kept moving, and she would only stop when he was detained by someone else. It was a more frequent occurrence as the night wore on and the alcohol continued to flow.

At one point Arthur blinked and found himself with a full pint in hand. He'd become one of them.

Several drunken hours later~

"Oh Lordy…" The hangover that Arthur woke to the next morning made him wish that he'd never touched a drop of booze. Ever. Noise roared in his ears punctuated by the pounding in his brain.

He picked his head up and scrubbed blearily at his eyes. Where was he? This wasn't his bed. The comforter looked like the one on the Countess' -

He jerked in shock. This was the master bedroom!

"Good morning, Arthur~."

Arthur flipped over and froze in horror. Beside him in the bed was Francis.

"AAAAUUGGHHHHHHH!"


	7. Chapter 7: Kung Fu Countess

Chapter 7: Kung Fu Countess

It was after Alfred left that the entire household noticed a distinct change in the Countess' behavior. She went from being a bubbly, mischievous whirlwind to a mopey waif wandering the manor and its grounds. She was so quiet that Arthur could barely keep track of her; Elise reported that she wasn't sleeping well; Francis lamented that Rose was barely eating any of his delicious meals.

Though Arthur was much more content now that the Countess was behaving mildly, he did have to confess to some concern about the wild swing in her moods. But he couldn't pass up this opportunity to mold her. He'd already begun to hear stirrings of interest from the upper class society about the new Countess. But to have any hope of fitting in, she'd have to radically change her behavior. This was the best chance to start that process.

But it seemed the others already knew of his ulterior motives and were taking steps to thwart him.

 **Early one morning…**

It wasn't that Rose awoke, it was more that she gave up trying to sleep. Carefully she levered herself up out of bed and looked around the dark room. As her eyes adjusted, they roved over the outlines of the furniture, searching for anything out of place. After a moment she determined that she was alone and she was relieved.

Apparently her sadness had been obvious to everyone - she'd seen the worried looks and had noticed that there was always someone following her. But it was a relief to be alone so that she didn't have to try to hide the sadness.

She dressed in darkness - she'd noticed that if she turned on lights someone inevitably showed up to start following her. When done, she drifted into the hallway and began her wandering.

Her wandering didn't serve any particular purpose other than to relieve stress and anxiety. It was as if she were looking for Alfred but couldn't find him. Mostly however she was just looking for herself.

She drifted along the halls, ghosting in and out of rooms at random. She was silent, her face and eyes blank. She passed through the darkness like a shadow.

Then she came to a room at the far end of the manor. It was on the opposite side from the Japanese garden and the employee quarters. Rose had been in there only once before - it was some kind of large room, but she had no idea what it was for. She pushed the door, expecting to go into darkness and circle again before leaving and continuing her rounds. But instead of a portal to quiet shadows, she was assaulted by brilliant light.

"I was wondering when you show up, aru."

Rose blinked owlishly in the bright light and when her eyes adjusted she saw it was Wang Yao who had spoken. The Chinese man was dressed in a red traditional martial arts outfit and the huge room was filled with martial arts equipment and weapons.

"Oh!" Rose said. "I'm sorry, I was just… I'll go."

"Don't be silly, aru. I knew you find your way here eventually and I have been waiting." Wang gestured for Rose to enter. "You have made whole house worry by acting like sad sack. So now we help you to feeling better, aru."

Rose could hardly deny what he was saying but she didn't want to be an annoyance. "I don't want to bother you, Wang." Then some of the old curiosity came back. "What do you do in here?"

"I am martial arts expert!" he declared proudly. "This is where I train, aru! I was personal trainer for last Countess - after all, healthy person needs healthy body and mind."

Rose perked up a bit. "So you do kung fu here?"

"I do many martial arts here. And from this day on, you do many martial arts with me, aru!" Then suddenly Wang shouted and aimed a diagonal chop at her neck.

"Wah!" Rose shouted and instinctively tried to slap his blow away.

"Not bad," Wang mused. "You have potential, aru. But your form terrible! You need much training. We start now!"


	8. Chapter 8: The Communist Giant

Chapter 8: The Communist Giant

Rose's attitude improved thanks to Wang. Every morning she rose just before dawn and meandered down to his training room for two hours of vigorous physical activity. The discipline and effort focused her mind away from her loneliness and the exhaustion in her body kept her from giving in to those negative feelings. And with Wang's friendly presence, she found that the negative feelings and loneliness weren't quite so overwhelming as they had been.

But still, after that exercise she was back on her own with no one for company. The loneliness always came back.

It was one such day that she was walking around outside, feeling lost. She stayed away from the area where the horses were kept, instead walking around and under the manicured oak trees. Then she emerged from the copse of trees on the north side and the first thing she saw was a fox.

The fox had just been sitting and licking one dark paw; as soon as Rose burst out upon it, it stopped and swiveled its head to stare at her. It was a beautiful creature with a ruddy orange coat and sharp white markings on it face and chest. Two bright yellow eyes stared out of its sly grinning face, meeting directly with her gray ones.

"Hi Foxy-Fox," she cooed at it.

She took another step closer to it and the fox immediately got up and started trotting away. With a dismayed cry, Rose followed it, hoping to get a picture. The fox kept trotting due north, following the fence line. Then it came to an enormous patch of sunflowers and dove right in. Rose hesitated a second and then slipped into the jungle.

She pushed aside the big leaves and pressed through the forest of stalks. There was no way to know where the fox had gone, even when she crouched down, but she kept looking. Then she spotted something hidden by the mass of sunflower blossoms - a hole! It was big, almost big enough for her to crawl through. She knelt and peeked through.

On the other side she saw the tail of the fox vanish into the underbrush. Clever fox!

"Hello?" Rose flinched as a voice called out, even though it wasn't a particularly loud or aggressive voice. "I-Is someone there?"

Rose crouched and gazed intently over her shoulder. She couldn't see anything between the leaves except for sunbeams.

"C-Come on, I know s-someone is in there."

"Who wants to know?" Rose finally said.

"Aah!" the voice yelped. "W-W-Who's th-that?!"

"It's Rose. Who're you?"

"Rose? M-Madam Countess?"

"Just Rose is fine. And you are?"

"O-Oh, yeah. I'm Raivis Galante. I'm part of your security team."

Rose quickly placed the name. Raivis was one of the younger employees and part of Ivan's security force. He was short, even more so than she, with pale hair and blue eyes. He was also very timid - she doubted that they'd exchanged two sentences before this. Though that was also true of the other Baltics on the security force. Even Ivan wasn't much of a talker.

"Anyway, madam, what are you doing in there?"

"I was following the cutest little fox that ran in here. It escaped through this hole in the fence. Then you showed up."

"A hole?" There was a burst of rustling and Raivis's young face appeared from out of the mess of leaves. "Let me see. I vill need to report it to Mr. Braginski."

"Why? It's just a little fox hole," Rose said but she pointed it out to him.

"It's a security risk, madam," he replied as he inspected it. "And if I don't report it to Mr. Braginski, I vill be punished."

"Punished?"

"Yeah…"

Rose let it go at that since Raivis had started to tremble. "Well, I'll miss seeing foxes but if it's that important…"

"Thank you, madam."

The two of them began to crawl out of the sunflower patch with Raivis leading. Rose knew when they had reached the edge of the patch because the light grew brighter. Then as Raivis broke loose, she saw the vivid green lawn beyond him.

Suddenly he squealed and she saw him get yanked up into the air.

"Oh, Raivis. I am much surprised to be finding you here," said a calm, heavily accented voice. "I recalls you to being assigned guarding north lawn not sunflower patch."

"I'm so sorry, sir! I was just - ack!"

"Is dangerous to playing in sunflowers, da? You might come down with bad case of broken neck~."

"Woah! What's going on out here?!" Rose demanded as she burst free of the flowers.

It was Ivan she had heard, and he was holding Raivis in the air by his scalp. The poor boy was sobbing uncontrollably and shaking like a leaf. Ivan however was calm and wearing his perpetual mild smile.

"Oh, hello Countess," he said in the exact same tone he had used with Raivis. "I see you were also in sunflowers. Shall I check you for broken neck too~?"

"Uh, no thanks, I'm good." Rose met Raivis's pleading eyes and considered what to do. Ivan was a big intimidating guy but surely he could be reasoned with. "Could you maybe put Raivis down? It looks like you're hurting him."

"That is good, da? He disobeyed orders and must be punished."

"No, he wasn't! He was helping me with something!"

"You are telling me what that something is or else. Kolkolkolkol…"

A terrifying aura had appeared around Ivan and he loomed over Rose like a giant grizzly bear. But she couldn't back down now - Raivis was depending on her to defend him.

"There's a hole in the fence there," she said, pointing back the way she'd come. "I was checking it out when Raivis found me."

"Hole?" Ivan's aura vanished though he kept staring intently at Rose. "In fence?"

"Da," Rose replied with a straight face.

"Interesting." After a long moment Ivan finally let Raivis down - the younger man was now tearful with relief. "I vill be speaking to maintenance to have fixing. Well done Countess."

"Just Rose," she answered with a grin.

"Comrade Rose." Maybe it was her imagination, but his smile seemed to grow marginally wider. "I look forward to be guarding you~."


End file.
